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How even oil-friendly Texas has learnt to embrace wind power

US offshore wind still pales in comparison with the onshore sector. But the size of its land-based turbine fleet shows how investments have been flowing into wind power in general.

At the start of the year, the Danish Wind Industry Association ranked the US second in the world in terms of installed turbines, meaning mostly onshore. The US has 17% of total wind capacity, while China is in first place with 35%.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says the country’s wind-energy sector grew by 9% in 2017, when seven gigawatts of capacity was added. About 406 MW was added in the first quarter this year.

The US has more than 54,000 turbines churning out 89 gigawatts in 41 states, which represents a tripling of capacity over the past decade, according to AWEA.

Texas is an important example of how wind power is being embraced in the US, because the traditional oil-and-gas state leads the nation with 22.8 gigawatts of wind capacity. About 24,000 people are employed in the Texas sector, out of 106,000 US wind-related jobs. The Lone Star State’s share of national capacity compares with 5.7 gigawatts in California, which prides itself on its environmental credentials.

For offshore wind, as of last month, there were eight gigawatts of firm commitments in six states in the Northeast, while close to 24 gigawatts of projects were in the pipeline, according to AWEA.

States are in a heated competition to attract projects by offering incentives to offshore wind developers. In February alone, there were announcements from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has pledged to convert his state to 100% clean energy by 2050 (the share of renewables is now around 3%). He has also ordered his Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities to reach 3.5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

For New York, Statoil — which formally changed its name to Equinor this week — is involved in the up-to-1.5-gigawatt Empire Wind project off Long Island. The state has also mandated a rise in the share of renewable power to 50% by 2030.

Statoil will conduct a vessel survey this summer to create the site assessment plan at Empire to submit to the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, after the Norwegian company secured the lease on 80,000 acres (324 square kilometres) at an auction in 2016.

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How even oil-friendly Texas has learnt to embrace wind power

US offshore wind still pales in comparison with the onshore sector. But the size of its land-based turbine fleet shows how investments have been flowing into wind power in general.

At the start of the year, the Danish Wind Industry Association ranked the US second in the world in terms of installed turbines, meaning mostly onshore. The US has 17% of total wind capacity, while China is in first place with 35%.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says the country’s wind-energy sector grew by 9% in 2017, when seven gigawatts of capacity was added. About 406 MW was added in the first quarter this year.

The US has more than 54,000 turbines churning out 89 gigawatts in 41 states, which represents a tripling of capacity over the past decade, according to AWEA.

Texas is an important example of how wind power is being embraced in the US, because the traditional oil-and-gas state leads the nation with 22.8 gigawatts of wind capacity. About 24,000 people are employed in the Texas sector, out of 106,000 US wind-related jobs. The Lone Star State’s share of national capacity compares with 5.7 gigawatts in California, which prides itself on its environmental credentials.

For offshore wind, as of last month, there were eight gigawatts of firm commitments in six states in the Northeast, while close to 24 gigawatts of projects were in the pipeline, according to AWEA.

States are in a heated competition to attract projects by offering incentives to offshore wind developers. In February alone, there were announcements from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has pledged to convert his state to 100% clean energy by 2050 (the share of renewables is now around 3%). He has also ordered his Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities to reach 3.5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

For New York, Statoil — which formally changed its name to Equinor this week — is involved in the up-to-1.5-gigawatt Empire Wind project off Long Island. The state has also mandated a rise in the share of renewable power to 50% by 2030.

Statoil will conduct a vessel survey this summer to create the site assessment plan at Empire to submit to the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, after the Norwegian company secured the lease on 80,000 acres (324 square kilometres) at an auction in 2016.